jimsjournal
Brilliant at breakfast -- 04/17/05


I'm very tired... Nancy and I spent much of the afternoon doing yard work. First we did a bit of furniture rearranging inside and then we tackled the outside. Lots of raking of leaves. We have so many oak trees and they shed vast amounts of leaves. We now have three fewer, but the ones I cut down were very small, scarcely worth noticing. I've picked out several more (much larger) ones I want to take down in the next few weeks, ones that either shade part of the yard too much or are potentially too close to the house in case of an especially bad windstorm. And then there is really big one in the back yard that forks about fifteen feet up and one of those forks looms over the back yard (and casts too much shade on my vegetables) and could damage the house if a storm every brought it down. That one I am afraid to try to bring down myself; I can't see how I could cut down that half of the tree without too great a risk of hitting the house... *sigh* but I also fear how much it will cost to have it taken care of by professionals. I would like to get it down this spring. (I would also like to replace three or four windows and have the ridge cap on the main roof replaced and... ah, it's always something, isn't it?)

So I spent about two and a half hours working in the yard and, although I had planned on a six mile run today, by the time I was finished with as much yard work as my back could stand, I was feeling too tired to go for a run of any length, let alone six miles. I did get in a six mile run a week ago, so I know that I will somehow be able to drag my weary butt through the 10k race next Sunday, although I would really have liked to have done six today as well. I know I will not have time on Monday or Tuesday for a long run (because of those two classes I'm taking) so I guess I will have to try to run five or six miles on Wednesday and then maybe three or four on Friday.

"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast." -Oscar Wilde (That's the quote that Erica used to introduce this week's Sunday Brunch and I'm a bit of an Oscar Wilde fan... a couple of weeks ago Jill and I went to see "The Importance of Being Earnest" at the 2nd Story Theatre -- a marvelous production -- this was the third time I've seen this play performed, good productions all three times, but despite their minimalist sets I think 2nd Story gave the most amusing and most satisfying presentation.)

1) Do you eat breakfast on a regular basis and why or why not?

Yes -- because, as they say, it's the most important meal of the day. It's the one that gets you started on the day, that fuels your morning. And, not having eaten since the evening before, I'm fairly hungry in the morning and eager to break my fast....

2) What is your typical everyday breakfast?

Coffee (black, of course), juice (usually orange, grapefruit, or pineapple), and some kind of relatively high fiber cold cereal with skim milk (Raisin Nut Bran or Raisin Bran Crunch, etc.) -- sometimes with added fruit on the cereal (cut up banana or fresh strawberries or blueberries or a sliced peach).

3) How do you eat your eggs?

I usually eat my eggs with a fork.

*grin*

Okay, when I have eggs in a restaurant I usually order fried eggs and at home I will make fried or scrambled eggs or an omelet, depending upon what whoever (Nancy or the kids) is eating with me would like them fixed. (If I am going to the office and I don't have time to eat at home I like to stop at a Dunkin' Donuts and get a fried egg with bacon and cheese on a toasted whole wheat bagel.)

4) What is your favorite restaurant to eat breakfast out at?

Other than that egg and bagel sandwich I sometimes grab on the way to the office, I rarely eat breakfast out... months can go by between breakfasts eaten in a restaurant (now that I very rarely travel on business anymore).

5) Describe your perfect breakfast in detail.

I do love restaurant breakfasts with pancakes and fried eggs and bacon and home-fried potatoes but obviously waistlines and arteries can only handle that kind of thing once in a great while. I also understand that a breakfast consisting of lots of fresh fruit is very good for you and I love it in hotels on business trips when there is a breakfast buffet with lots of fresh pineapple and strawberries and various kinds of melon, etc. Yummy. Even better is if they have all of this good fresh fruit and they also have nice Danish or cinnamon buns or coffee cake (so I can balance off the really good stuff and the tasty but not so good stuff and then I can call it a balanced breakfast).

Hmmm, to quote Oscar Wilde again: "I can resist everything except temptation." ("Lady Windemere's Fan" -- which 2nd Story did a couple of years ago.)


Six Week Tweak Week Six
date weight change cumulative
# 03/06/05 201   --   --
1 03/13/05 200 -1 -1
2 03/20/05 200   0 -1
3 03/27/05 199. -1 -2
4 04/03/05 198 -1 -3
5 04/10/05 198   0 -3
6 04/17/05 198   0 -3
date workout
Mon. 04/11 - no workout -
Tues. 04/12 one mile walk plus some weights
Wed. 04/13 40 mins 12 miles on exercise bike
plus leg lifts, rows, weights
Thurs. 04/14 - no workout -
Fri. 04/15 3.5 mile run on bike path
Sat. 04/16 42 mins 12 miles on exercise bike
plus leg lifts, rows, weights
Sun. 04/17 two and a half hours of yard work
Well, I didn't drop six pounds over these six weeks, but I did loose three pounds, and although I didn't work out six days a week, I did manage to get in five days a week. And, after all, I did work my way up to a six mile run and that was my key goal, to persuade myself that I will be able to survive next Sunday's run. I think (even though I'm going to be older than I've ever been before) I'm going into this spring-and-summer running season with a better foundation than I've had for the past few years.

(And maybe I will still manage to drop another pound before my birthday, which is less than two weeks away now...)



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